Everyone has a favorite navigation app these days, from Waze to Apple Maps to Google Maps. Each has its own set of unique features, pros and cons, and they’re all but essential to modern driving. When you picture the people who develop these complex features we’ve all come to depend on, you probably don’t think of a degree in education as the normal launch pad.
And it likely isn’t. However, multiple education degrees proved the right stepping stones for Ji An M.A. ’14, Ph.D. ’20, a senior data scientist at Google Maps. After obtaining her undergraduate degree in education, An immigrated to the United States from China to teach Chinese as a second language in Michigan. There, she earned a master’s degree in teaching and curriculum from Michigan State University.
While working as a teacher, she became interested in measurement. “I was thinking a good deal about kids and test scores, and what it all means,” she says. “That led me to search for a program that would allow me to learn, help students and better understand how to evaluate them.”
That search led to the University of Maryland College of Education and its master’s and doctoral programs in quantitative methodology: measurement and statistics program (formerly measurement, statistics and evaluation). While still a Ph.D. candidate, An headed west to the Bay Area and an educational start-up (Kidaptive, later acquired by McGraw Hill), where she worked as a data scientist. Her work focused on building a digital learning platform that could adapt to individual students’ needs to help them learn more efficiently.
While the work was satisfying, An soon began to wonder what else she might do with her education and knowledge. “The start-up was small, and we had a limited number of customers, so I wanted to find a bigger platform to make an impact.”
An’s search led her to Google in 2019, which had an opening for a product analyst, and eventually, her current position at Google Maps. “My work involves analyzing the vast amounts of data that power Google Maps, including road networks, road conditions and attributes, and real-time updates,” she explains. “This enables millions of people around the world to make informed decisions to get to their destinations efficiently and ultimately enjoy a smoother and safer driving experience.”
An finds herself frequently drawing on her UMD experience to perform her job. “I often remember my professors and the strategies they taught me,” she says. “They gave me scientific rigor and problem-solving capabilities. They also taught me storytelling, and you can’t give a presentation or make your case if you can’t translate your statistics into persuasive language.”
